Sunday, June 18, 2017

Real Debate or Echo Chamber?

Well, it's getting hot in here. I've been booted from my second FB group. This is the second time for this group. It's called the "No BS Forum". But it's loaded with BS. (The other group is called "The Commons", and apparently takes pride in being an echo chamber.)

Allow me to explain. Everyone who follows me or has friended me here, especially those who know me in real life, knows that I don't follow any particular political party. This gives me the freedom to call out BS when and where I see it. It doesn't matter to me if it's Democrats or Republicans, I call it out. I've even written blogs and other posts critical of the Libertarian Party; they're not a major player, but they're trying to be. And perhaps they had a hand too, a small one, in getting Trump elected.

Now on to the matter at hand. I've been posting a variety of things in the so-called "No BS Forum", covering corruption of both major parties and individuals within those parties. A few weeks ago, the owner of the group, one Gary Gambino, stated in comments that he did not want an echo chamber. Another member, a hard-core supporter of Hillary Clinton named John Fotia, responded that there was something to be said for echo chambers.

Fotia, Victoria Cash, and others have refused repeatedly to engage in civil discussion. They call my posts fake news, even when shown proof from other sources that it's not fake. Fotia even called Alternet, a mainstay of the left, a questionable source. Why? Because the article he was responding to detailed the corruption of the DNC, specifically Clinton and Shultz. He's done the same with other progressive sources, ones that are rated highest on the media bias checking website, https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/ , for the same reason.

Perhaps a week after that, I was booted from the group. A day later, through the intervention of a good friend, Kris Haynes, I was reinstated.

Today I was attempting to be civil and engage in discussion, as I usually am, but the people there don't want discussion, especially if it's about Hillary Clinton, Debbie Wassermann-Shultz or Donna Brazile, the ringleaders of the corruption within the Democratic Party. Instead, they attacked me and my posts with ad hominems and deflections to things that are totally irrelevant to the topic of the post. And out of nowhere, I'm banned again. Not only that, Gary, the group owner, blocked me from PM'ing him to ask why.

But I'd lay odds that not one of those actually engaging in these attacks has been treated the same, or even given a warning.

So. I'm posting this blog in the two other groups Gary owns. I fully expect it to be deleted and for me to be booted from those groups as well. And that's okay. Because now I know that Gambino has no interest in open debate of issues. He wants echo chambers all around. He's proven it by kicking me out of the so-called "No BS Forum". Twice. And he's not even man enough to take a PM asking for an explanation of his actions.

Here's a kick in the pants for anyone who is able to think for themselves. My posts, as I've said, have been called fake news, bogus sources, and other things along those lines, in spite of the verifiable facts and truth they contain. However, I live and write by a single axiom. It's been stated clearly in three distinct ways.

First, by Mohandas Gandhi: "The friend you must cultivate is that part of your enemy that knows the truth."

Second, by Malcolm X: "I am for Truth, no matter who speaks it."

And third, by my Teacher, Dr. David M. Berry: "Truth is Truth, even out of a liar's mouth."

No, I'm not mad. I'm actually happy. I learned a valuable lesson that I should have learned long ago. Something about casting pearls. It's in the Christian Bible, if you want to look it up. But I'm through with this nonsense.

I hope Gary Gambino and the other residents of his total BS echo chamber have a nice life as the Democratic Party self-destructs by staying with corporate sycophants as their chosen candidates instead of real progressives.

I am, and I shall remain, a proud independent, thinking for myself rather than letting the Establishment do it for me.

About Me

I'm a former U. S. Marine, a widower, a father and a grandfather. I've been a dishwasher, a cook, a janitor, a store clerk, a baker's assistant, an apartment manager, a sheet metal worker and a Union steward. I've written poetry, a short story, newspaper and magazine articles, and blogs.

When I lost my job due to disability a few years ago, I decided that,
since I couldn't stay as active physically as I'd been, I had to keep my
brain active. I decided to write a book.

It's been a
part of my awareness for a long time, that I *had* to write it, because I
and my son had been a victim of the corruption in the child protective
system. But I didn't want to write a tell-all totally factual book;
there are plenty of them out there that relatively few people read.

I
wanted to write it as a novel, to tell a story, because that is how the
best lessons are learned, through stories. That way, more people can be
reached, and more eyes can be opened to the reality of the corruption.
And I wanted to write a story
that I would want to read myself, complete with the human interactions,
the love, the hate, the anger, as much as I could comfortably fit into
the story.

Now I've written that book, and I'm working on two more. One of those is a sequel to the first. But I need to get funding to get that first one published. To see how you can help, click this link: